Friendly Dinner
by Nedwards23
Summary: In this story Aria and Ezra have never met before. Ezra is in college and is Byron's intern and he had been invited for dinner to discuss said internship. I suck at summary's but there you go. also i this story only Aria and Byron live together no Mike.
1. Chapter 1

**Friendly Dinner. **

**In this story Aria and Ezra have never met each other and are closer in age (Aria around 17/18 and Ezra around 20/21) he's also not her teacher he is a college student and has just got a job as Byron's intern. I hope you enjoy, it was just an idea that came to me while I was waiting for my dinner. Reviews are more than welcome :) I also have a multi chapter story coming up soon so keep an eye out for it. I'll shut up now and let you read, bye.**

Ezra apprehensively took his hand out of his pants pocket and knocked on the mahogany door. In less than 10 seconds the door opened revealing a gorgeous petite brunette teenager. The pair stared at one another before Ezra gathered his thoughts and spoke.  
"I'm sorry I think I'm at the wrong house I'm looking for the Montgomery household"

"you've found it. I'm Aria; Byron's daughter" She said holding out her hand which he took and shook.

"Sorry" he told her

"why are you apologising?" she asked as confusion covered her features.

"I have no idea" he said with a small laugh not taking his eyes off her majestic hazel ones. Ezra was about to tell her how beautiful her eyes were when Byron entered the room almost ruining the moment.

"Aria do you know where..." he started but cut himself short when he noticed Ezra was stood in the doorway."Is it 7 already?" he asked not believing how quick the time had flown.

"A little after actually; I got lost" Ezra shamelessly admitted causing Aria to laugh.

"Happens to the best of us, why don't you come in, it looks terrible out there" Byron said motioning to the rain that had substantially picked up from barely spitting when he exited his car to now bouncing off the floor.

"Thanks" Ezra said as he entered the warm house, shaking off the slight chill the weather had caused. He was stuck in his own thoughts whilst his eyes scanned the quaint house when the sound of Aria's sweet angelic voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"What's in the bag?" she asked motioning toward the brown paper bag his left hand was clutching.

"Oh, I got your dad some scotch as a thank you for inviting me to dinner." at his explanation Aria stayed silent, causing him to panic. "please tell me he drinks scotch, I knew I should have gone with the wine, or the chocolates or even..." he continued rambling, not taking a breath and letting Aria reply to his question.

"whoa, whoa slow down, you did good, he loves scotch" At her words Ezra let out a breath.

"Good"

"why don't I go give it to him while you try and relax on the couch."

"that's a good idea, thanks" he said handing her the bag.

"you're welcome now go relax, dinners not ready yet so you have a few minutes." she said motioning him toward the living room whilst she walked into the kitchen and gave her dad the scotch before she walked back to the living room and sat on the chair to the left of Ezra.

"Why are you so nervous" she asked curiosity getting the better of her yet again.

"My friend told me your dad's a temperamental guy, and I really need this job, I can't afford him hating me."

"You're friends an ass" she replied without thinking but meaning every word she had said.

"Excuse me?" Ezra asked slightly shocked she had called Hardy an Ass.

"You're friend is an ass. My dad's the nicest guy ever. I mean yeah he has his dick moments, we all do, but I promise you as long as you are yourself he'll like you."

"Really?"

"Really, so stop worrying and never listen to your friend again"

"Thank you" he told her showing her his pearly whites in the form of a smile, in return she mirrored his actions.

"Dinners ready" Byron called from the kitchen and both Aria and Ezra stood up. As Ezra began to walk into the kitchen Aria started ascending the stairs on her way to her room.

"Where are you going? Aren't you having dinner too?" he asked not wanting her to leave, he loved talking to her, and it was so easy and smooth.

"No, this dinner is for you to get to know my dad, talk schedules, I don't want to interrupt that" she said as she turned to carry on walking.

"Stay" he simply said and she halted her movements. "Dinner smells lovely and I'm sure they'll be enough for three."

"Are you sure, I don't want to intrude"

"I insist" he told her sincerely and she began descending the stairs and walked into the dining room with him.

"Aria, what are you doing here, I thought you were doing your homework" Byron asked as he placed the vegetables on the table.

"I'm here because I live here too remember" she told him.

"Of course I mean..." before he could finish Ezra interrupted.

"I invited her to eat with us. I felt bad having her leave."

"oh well I guess, but you'll probably be bored sweetie and we're having chicken"

"That's okay I'll just eat vegetables" she said walking past him and sitting down at the table. Ezra was confused as to why she would only be eating the vegetables before he had a chance to ask Byron answered his question.

"She's a vegetarian" He told him clearing up his confusion.

"Oh right" He replied as the two men walked towards the table and sat down. Byron sat at the head of the table, and Ezra sat down next to Aria with Byron to the right of him.

The next hour was spent with the three of them talking and eating dinner, well, Ezra and Byron spoke mostly during dinner leaving Aria mostly silent for the meal.

Once all three plates were polished off and Aria had stolen Ezra's last piece of broccoli the three retreated into the living room with a bowl of ice cream each. Aria and Ezra both had large scoops of rum and raisin whilst Byron went with mint chocolate chip.

Byron was now sat in the chair next to the couch instead of Aria; she was instead sat next to Ezra on the couch with their knees brushing. Ezra tried to ignore how close she was to him but couldn't keep the boyish smile off his face.

They were lost deep in conversation when Ezra suddenly looked at the clock above the fireplace, not understanding how it had gotten so late so quickly. It was already 10.30pm.

"Thank you for tonight Byron, but I really should get going its getting late" he said motioning to the clock.

"Wow that went quick, are you sure I can't persuade you with a night cap and a cab home to stay another hour? We've only really started on the lesson plan for this semester."

"sorry I really must get going" Ezra said as he stood from the couch.

"I don't think you're going anywhere" Aria said as she entered the room. Neither Byron nor Ezra for that matter noticed she had got up and left the room only moments before.

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked half of him not sure if this was her weird way of flirting with him; surely she wouldn't, especially with her dad in the room.

"Look out the window, the streets are flooded. There's a warning on the news, no one is to leave there house. Looks like you're stuck with us" Aria told both men who as soon as she had finished talking turned to look out the window, both holding in gasps at how bad the weather had gotten in only a few small hours.

"Good thing our couch pulls out" Byron said with a chuckle at his attempt at humor.

"I think I'll take that night cap now" Ezra said as he sat back down on the couch.

"I'll go get the scotch you bought with you, Aria why don't you go get the sheets from the cupboard and you and Ezra can make a start on making the couch a make shift bed for the night?" Byron suggested, walking to get the scotch.

"You don't have to go that I'll be fine" Ezra told Aria but it was too late she was already walking to the closet and pulling out covers and pillows for him.

"I don't mind but you're gonna have to stand up. And help me, it's heavy and as you can see I'm not built to lift heavy things" She said as she motioned to her small body, as the pair of them laughed lightly.

" I can see" Ezra said as he rose from the couch, helped Aria move away the small table in front of the couch, move the cushions off the couch and pull it out. They then helped one another put a sheet on the thin mattress as well as a duvet and a couple of pillows to keep Ezra comfortable.

"All done" Aria said as she clapped her against one another like one would if the was trying to get rid of dust from their hands. Before Ezra had a chance to thank Aria her father entered the room. He really had a knack for interrupting them.  
"I'm gonna go to bed now. Night dad" she said as she gave him a hug goodnight. "Goodnight Ezra, it wad nice to meet you" she said truthfully as she began to walk up the stairs. Just as she hit half way Ezra realized he hadn't replied and didn't want to come off rude so he quickly opened his mouth and spoke.

"Goodnight Aria. It was nice meeting you too" he told her with his signature smile. Aria said nothing in return as she carried on walking up the stair and entering her bedroom.

"If I'm not mistaken I'd say someone has a crush on my daughter." Byron said trying to keep the smile off his face.

Ezra's heart stopped at his words and his eyes became wide. "I...I...I" was all Ezra could stutter out.

"You can stop panicking. I'm nit gonna kill you" Byron said allowing Ezra's heart to begin pumping blood around his body again. "I'll only do that if you hurt her." Byron said meaning every word of his seemingly harmless threat.

"I'd never hurt her" Ezra said without even processing the words that were coming from his mouth.

"Good. Now how about we start on this scotch and finish this semester's lesson plan before turning in for the night?" Byron suggested opening the bottle before Ezra had even replied.

"Sounds good to me" Ezra replied sitting on the edge of the make shift bed and taking a glass from Byron. Neither man could keep the smiles from their face.

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it and leave a review.  
p.s sorry for any mistakes.**


	2. Chapter 2

Friendly Dinner: Chapter 2

**Hey so I had no intention what so ever to continue this story but since so many of you asked for it I decided to do another chapter to make you all happy.**

**p.s this isn't entirely proofed so I hope its okay ( I didn't have time) **

At two am Ezra found himself unable to sleep and after an hour of tossing and turning he decided to give up. Half of the reason for his lack of sleep was the pouring rain only meters away from him, and the other half was because he couldn't stop thinking about Aria, she was so beautiful he couldn't stop smiling.

His smile faded however when he heard light footsteps defending the stairs. He quickly shot into teenage Ezra mode and faked being asleep. He had no idea why he did so, he was a grown man if he couldn't sleep, he couldn't sleep, he didn't have to hide it. Deciding he was being stupid he opened his eyes and sat up, just as Aria walked down the last step. He couldn't help but laugh at the concentration displayed on her face, with her tongue sticking out as she focused on making as little amount of noise as possible. Aria heard Ezra small giggle and threw her head up looking directly at him.

"Crap! I woke you up, I'm sorry"

"Don't be I was already awake" He said letting her guilt slowly fade away.

"But when I looked you were sleeping" Aria said confused.

"I was faking it" Ezra simply explained causing Aria to become confused.

"Why were you faking it?" Aria asked as she stood at the bottom of the staircase.

"I don't know really; guess I felt guilty for being awake. I'm an idiot i know"

"You're not wrong there" Aria joked causing the pair to laugh together.

"How come you're down here?" Ezra asked observing the brunette. She had on a simple tee shirt with a faded logo on and purple pyjama shorts, Ezra himself was wearing something similar, he had on a shirt too but instead of shorts he just simply had his boxers on, not wanting to sleep in his slacks.

"i couldn't sleep too and I needed a glass of water. Would you like one too?" She offered him to which he greatly accepted.  
As she walked away from him Ezra couldn't help but look towards her ass, it was perfect.

A few moments later Aria came back with two glasses of water and sat beside Ezra since he had made room for her once he had seen she was on her way back to him.

"So did you like what you saw?" Aria asked noncelantly before taking a sip of her water.

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked.

"Unlike you I'm not an idiot. I know you were watching me as i went to the kitchen."

"How?" Ezra asked talking a large gulp of water feeling guilty for getting caught.

"We girls are talented like that" Aria said as she finished her water, placing it on the coffee table next to her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have" Ezra said placing his now empty glass on the floor.

"Its okay, but now that makes us uneven" Ezra screwed up his face in confusion.

"How does it make us uneven?"

"Well you've check out my ass and now its my turn to check yours out, so stand up, turn around and let me ogle the merchandise"

Ezra let out a chuckle "You're not serious"

"Deadly. Now hurry up I've not got all night." Ezra let out a nervous laugh as he looked at Aria. He's never seen anyone look so serious. He took a second to think before he moved the covers off of himself, stood up, faced away from her and put his hands on his hips.

After 10 seconds he began to feel self conscious. "Can I turn back around yet?" He asked.

"20 more seconds Aria said as she got her phone out of her shorts picket taking a quick snap. Ezra quickly turned around.

"Did you just take a photo of me?" he asked as soon as he heard the click.

"Maybe. What are you gonna do about it?" she asked seductively, raising her eyebrows in the process.

"Nothing" Ezra said calmly as he sat back down on the couch/bed. Aria was about to speak when Ezra made a move for her phone but luckily she moved her hand just out of reach.

"ah, ah, ah, its mine now"

"Fine" Ezra said as he moved back to his side of the bed folding his arms over his chest like a spoilt child. Just then an idea came to him, 'maybe she's ticklish' he thought before attacking the small brunettes sides in a big to tickle the phone out of her grasp.

It worked Aria was now in a fit of giggles and moving around so much Ezra was struggling to keep tickling her.

"Stop, please, I can't" Aria said through giggles but Ezra kept on going.

"Not until I get that phone"

"Never" Aria replied as she tried to tickle him back but Ezra was hot on her tail. After a few more seconds Ezra could see she was getting rather red and knew he would have to stop in a moment or two.

"I have a counter offer" he said as he slowed down his tickling. Knowing there was no way of getting his phone back he had a new plan.

"What's the offer?" Aria quickly asked whilst she could.

"I'll stop tickling you, if, you go on a date with me at the weekend."

"What?" Aria asked slightly confused, her head foggy still.

"I like you Aria, and I'd really like to take you out on a date." He said as he stopped tickling the poor girl, hovering above her as not to crush her whilst he looked lovingly into her beautiful eyes.

Aria stayed silent which made Ezra feel like a ball of nerves. Just as he was about to move over Aria reached out both hands, placed them on either side of his face, and crashed her lips to his.

It was only a short, hungry kiss but it did the trick. Once they pulled away Aria spoke.

"I've been wanting to do that since the minute I saw you."

"Really?" Ezra asked, wanting to double check she knew what she just said. She just nodded whilst her cheeks blushed. Ezra let out his boyish smile before leaning down and whispering huskily in Aria's ear "Me too."

Before his mind could register what was happening her lips were on his again in what he would have to describe the best kiss of his life. And it only got better once their tongues joined the party.


	3. Chapter 3

Friendly dinner chapter 3

**_Hey guys so I cannot thank you all enough for your love of this story especially since it was something I just wrote for fun. It means so much that you like it. I know this chapter isn't the longest but it's all I had and I wanted to update and make you guys happy _****_J_******

**_Also someone commented they had read a similar story and I just wanted to say I had no idea a similar one existed so if anything is the same I promise it is not copied it is just a coincidence. Once again thank you for reading; sorry for any mistakes this isn't proofed. Also HAPPY PLL DAY!_**

At 6pm the following Saturday Ezra found himself with sweaty palms and nerves as he knocked on the Montgomery's door for the second time in his life. Tonight was this date with Aria and even though he was excited he couldn't help but be nervous.

Luckily though all his bad thoughts and feelings melted away once the door was opened and Aria was revealed. She looked beyond stunning causing Ezra's mouth to go dry at the sight of her. She blushed at his reaction before she spoke.

"Do I look okay?" She asked him as she held the bottom of the dress out as she swayed from side to side.

"You look beautiful" Ezra replied once he found his voice, he couldn't take his eyes off her. She was wearing a gorgeous ruby red dress that clung to her breast and waist perfectly before flowing out around her hips. The skirt of the dress was also covered in lace that added to its beauty. To match her dress Aria also had ruby lipstick on accompanied with black mascara and light eyeliner. Her hair was half up, half down with a rose clip holding it up.

To finish off her Ruby theme Aria had a dainty silver and red faux diamond bracelet on her left wrist as well as a silver ring on her right ring finger.

Some people would look at Aria and say that she had gone overboard but not Ezra, he loved how she had colour coordinated her whole outfit, it was so…Aria, it made him all the more attracted to her that she wasn't afraid to be herself around him.

"Oh hi Ezra" Byron said pulling the two from their bubble as he pasted by in his journey from the kitchen to the living room. "I want her home for 11.30, no later." He told Ezra sternly.

"Of course. We'll be back by then. I promise" Ezra confirmed letting Byron know he wouldn't let him down.

"Good, have fun and make sure you take care of her" Byron said as he left the two.

"Will do" Ezra called to Byron before he took hold of Aria's dainty hand and led her towards his car.

He opened the passenger door for her, waited until she was settled then closed the door before he got into the car himself and began driving.

"Wait why are you going this way? The restaurants in the other direction" Aria said once she noticed.

"I know, I just have to make a quick stop first, I won't be long, we'll still make the reservation" Ezra told her lacing their hand together on the console between them.

The pair drove for the next few minutes in silence until they pulled up to an apartment complex. Once Aria noticed where they were her stomach began doing flips, and not in a good way.

"W…why are we here? What is here?" she asked nervous, not understanding why they were here before dinner.

"It's my apartment building" Ezra simply said as he killed the engine and took his seatbelt off. He looked at Aria and couldn't miss how nervous she suddenly looked since she had turned white because of her nerves. Ezra was confused for a moment before he realised what she must be thinking, that they were here to have pre dinner sex. By the look on her face the thought clearly terrified her; clearly she wasn't ready for that.

"Hey" He said softy as he reached for her hand again causing Aria to jump slightly at his movement.

"Sorry" She quickly whispered taking hold of his hand.

"It's okay. I just have to get something from inside; I'll be five minutes tops. Do you want to stay here till I come back or would you like to come with me?" Ezra asked giving Aria the option even though he knew which one she would choose.

"Can I stay here?" She asked timidly.

"Of course you can" Ezra replied before giving her a gentle peck on the cheek. At his words Aria began to relax. "I'll be right back" Ezra said as he squeezed her hand before getting out of the car and entering the building.

As soon as he was in the building Ezra ran straight up the three flights of stairs to his apartment. Once he reached it he quickly opened the door and went straight to his drawer. After a minute or two of fishing around the drawer he found the item he was looking for and quickly put it on before leaving the apartment, locking the door and sprinting down the stairs to the lobby. Once he got to the lobby he took a few second to catch his breath. Even though Ezra stayed relatively active he wasn't the fittest and running up and down three flights of stairs as fast as he could had gotten him out of breath.

As soon as Ezra regained his breathing he walked back towards the car not wanting Aria to have to wait any longer for him. He couldn't help but smile once he saw her waiting for him in the car. As soon as he opened the door Aria spoke.

"Wow four and a half minutes exactly, I'm impressed" She said not taking her eyes off the small clock on Ezra's dashboard. "What did you get?" She asked as he sat down, just then she looked at him. As she looked up she realized she didn't have to ask what he got, it was obvious.

"You changed your tie for me?" She asked as her eyes began to water slightly, it was such a small gesture but it meant so much to her that he had done it anyway. "That's beyond sweet, thank you" Aria told him as she moved in for a hug. Ezra had changed out of his cornflower blue tie and worn a ruby red on instead.

"You're more than welcome. I figured since everything on you matched so should I" He said smiling from ear to ear.

The pair pulled out of their hug to look at one another for a moment before Aria gave Ezra a short but sweet thank you kiss.

"Ready to go?" He asked once their small kiss was unfortunately over.

"God yes, I'm starving" Aria replied eager to get some food into her system.

**_There you have it chapter three. I hope you guys liked it. I hate to say it but I am running out of ideas so could you guys tell me what you want from this as I have no idea. _**


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N And here is chapter 4. Originally I was going to use the idea of Jackie wanting Ezra back but once I stared writing and that didn't happen, thank you for the idea though. _**

**_I'm glad so many of you are enjoying this story and reviewing but since this was supposed to be a one- shot I have NO IDEAS as to where the story should go so HELP, PLEASE. I want you all to stay happy so if you guys tell me what you want from this story I can try and make that happen. _**

**_Thank you for reading, sorry for any mistakes this is not proofed, also keep reviewing please, I love reading them. _**

**_I also added a line or two from 5x05 so see if any of you can spot them _****_J_******

**_p.s sorry for the longish note I'll shut up now and let you read. _**

Friendly Dinner

Chapter 4

Within minutes the couple arrived at Rose of Sharon and being a total gentleman Ezra opened Aria's door for her. As they walked towards the restaurant Ezra also reached for Aria's hand and laced their fingers together causing both of them to smile.

Once inside they gave their name, got their table and ordered before the conversation began to flow freely between the two. They had just ordered desert when Aria spoke up again.

"So I have a confession to make" Aria told Ezra sheepishly unsure if she should share her information or not.

"What's that?" Ezra asked locking his left hand in hers on top of the table. He loved how her hands fitted perfectly in his.

"I've never been on a date before" Aria confessed as she began blushing and looked away slightly.

"Really?" Ezra asked, "But you're beautiful." He couldn't believe she had never been on a date before, his words had made her blush a little more but she had now turned back to look at him.

"Really, Really"" Aria replied giggling slightly.

"Can I ask why?"

"No one nice ever asked" She simply told him.

"Well I'm glad" Ezra replied after a short pause. "I get to set the bar high"

"But not too high. In case you haven't noticed I'm not that tall." Aria joked, laughing slightly to which Ezra joined in with her.

"Oh I noticed."

Unfortunately Ezra's laughter had caught the attention of another brunette.

"Z? Hey I didn't expect to see you here. How are you?" The brunette said as she approached the couples table.

Aria couldn't hep but feel inferior to the woman. She had long locks just like she did only Aria swore they looked silkier, she was also at least half a foot taller than Aria and that wasn't including the heels she was wearing. She also looked older than Aria and portrayed a huge amount of confidence, unlike Aria. To top it off her body looked a lot more mature than Aria's. Even though she was eighteen and still growing Aria had always thought her body looked like that of a 12 year old boy, she was wrong of course but it didn't stop her from feeling beyond insecure at times, especially right now.

"Jackie hi." Ezra said faking happiness at seeing the woman, he hated her but it wasn't like him to be rude and ask her straight away to leave so he didn't. He didn't answer her question as he just wanted her to go but things only got worse once her friend joined her.

"You remember Meredith right?" Jack asked motioning to the blonde that stood beside her. Just like Jackie she was tall, had confidence galore and a mature figure. The only difference between the two was that Meredith was a blonde and slightly skinner, Aria hated both of them instantly.

"I remember" Ezra simply said as cold as he could manage hoping the women would get the message and leave him and Aria alone.

All throughout the short conversation Aria was trying to remember where she knew Meredith from, just then it clicked. Aria's face instantly turned sour and red as tears began to cloud her vision.

"I have to go" Aria said as she stood up, pulled her hand from Ezra's and sprinted to the exit. It all happened so fast Ezra barely had time to register it.

"Aria wait" Ezra said as he too stood up.

"Aria? Isn't that Professor Montgomery's daughter's name?" Jackie asked

"Yes it is" Meredith confirmed.

"You were on a date with a teenager? Come on Ezra you can do better than that" Jackie said almost tauntingly.

He ignored both women as he threw a few bills on the table to cover the bill before going after Aria.

"Aria." He called once he got outside but he received no reply, he tried again and again but came up with nothing. He thought about where she could have gone before hopping in his car and searching for her.

Less than five minutes later he found her. She was on a small park not far from the restaurant. She was sat on the grass with her head in her hands and Ezra could hear her crying from his place in the car. He quickly got out of his car and went straight to her.

"Aria" he said tentivly not wanting to scare the girl. "What's wrong? What just happened in there?" He asked once he was stood next to her. She quickly wiped her eyes before speaking.

"Nothing. Just leave me alone" she said before burying her head back into her hands.

Ezra stayed silent as he sat down next to her, she noticed his movements and turned her back to him.

"Aria please, talk to me." He asked as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, she instantly shrugged it off. "Is this about Jackie and Meredith?" He asked. At the mention of Meredith's name Aria tensed up. "It is isn't it" Ezra said once he noticed the change in Aria's body language.

"Aria you have nothing to worry about I'm not interested in them I lo…I want you"

"It's not you I'm worried about" Aria whispered as the tears still flowed down her face.

"Then who? Who are you worried about?" Ezra asked confused by her words. He placed his hand once again on her shoulder only this time she didn't shrug him off. After a few seconds of silence she answered him.

"I'm worried about…my dad"

"Why?" Ezra asked still confused. Aria stayed silent once again. "Aria please tell me, I hate to see you so upset, I want to fix whatever is hurting you."

"It's too late" Aria said turning her body to face him. It broke his heart now that he could see her properly, she looked so broken. She was a complete mess. Her make up had run, her eyes and nose were all red as well as puffy which only served to make her look much more fragile than she was.

"Why is it too late? What happened?" Ezra asked softly as he began to wipe her make up off her face with the pad of his thumb.

"It's complicated." Aria simply said to which Ezra replied. "I've got time." Aria then took a deep breath before she began.

"The blonde who came into the restaurant, Meredith, I've seen her before. Around two years ago I saw her, with my dad, they were kissing."

Ezra listened carefully as he finished wiping the make up from Aria's face. He was still confused though. He didn't see why it was such a big thing, he knew that Professors hooking up with students was frowned upon but it wasn't illegal. Aria could see he still didn't understand why she was so upset so she continued her explanation.

"At the time he was married to my Mom" Aria explained, now Ezra understood. He had a feeling how this was going to end; his heart went out to her.

"He knew I knew and begged me not to tell her."

"Did you tell her?" Ezra asked.

"Yes, but not right away." Aria took another breath. This was the hard part; it was still a raw subject for her. "I kept his secret fir a few months but it was killing me. I got drunk one night with my friends, stupid I know, my mom had to pick me up and when she asked why I was drinking, like an idiot I told her. She was so mad at me." Aria said as a lone tear escaped. Ezra quickly wiped it away whilst she continued.

"She got furious at me even for not telling her. She wouldn't stop shouting at me and once we got home she confronted my dad. They fought for hours and then…. And then she took off. She didn't want to have to 'deal' with either of us so she just left. She hates me Ezra, this is my entire fault." Aria said as her tears flowed more freely now. Without thinking Ezra pulled her into his lap and held her close. She held onto him tighter than imaginable as he kissed her head and soothingly rubbed her back.

"It's not your fault Aria." Ezra told her softly.

"Yes it is" she chocked.

"No it's not; it's your Dad's fault. If he hadn't have had an affair none of this would have happened.

"But..."

"No buts" Ezra said as he slightly loosened his grip to look at Aria in the eyes before adding, "Except your butt cause it's adorable" Aria let out a small smile. "There's that smile I love" Ezra commented as he too smiled.

"I know it must hurt not having your mom around but you have to stop beating yourself up. You said it's been what two years," Aria nodded her head yes. "You have to find a way to get passed it."

"I know I do. I mean I thought I already had, but when I saw Meredith she just brought it all back I guess."

"I'm sorry" Ezra apologised.

"You don't have to be sorry, it's me who has to be sorry, I ruined our dare, I'm sorry, so sorry."

"I don't ever want to hear you say your sorry again." Ezra said as he leaned in for a kiss. As soon as their lips locked Aria began to feel instantly better. There was just something about him that made her feel better, she didn't know what it was but was grateful he had it.

After a few moments the pair pilled away to catch their breath, Ezra leaned his forehead against Aria's before he spoke.

"You know, we have a few hours before I have to take you home, do you wanna go see a movie? They're showing all the classics just down the street, it's It happened one night tonight I think. Ezra suggested.

"I love that movie" Aria replied.

"Me too, it's one of my favourites" Ezra told her barely managing to finish his sentence as Aria crashed her lips onto his.

"What was that for?" He asked once their lips parted.

"Because you're great, because I wanted to, because you came after me, because It happened one night is my favourite too and did I mention because you're great."

"Once or twice" Ezra replied before standing up. He then reached down and helped Aria up too before the pair began walking back to his car.

After a few steps Ezra noticed that Aria had taken her shoes off and was now carrying them in her hands. He stopped in front of her before crouching down slightly.

"Get on" He said referring to his back. He wanted to give her a piggy back so she wouldn't have to walk barefoot.

"What? Why?" Aria asked. He stood back up straight then turned to face her.

"Because we're gonna hit gravel soon and I don't want you to hurt your feet so, get on" He said as he turned around again.

"You're so sweet you know that?" Aria said rhetorically once she had hoped on. "Thank you."


	5. Chapter 5

Friendly dinner

Chapter 5

**_Hey guys I really love all the response I am getting from this story, Thank you so much. I would REALLY love to reach 50 reviews so how about you guys help me do that and then I'll upload again? I have a vague idea of where this story can go but your input is EXTREMELY helpful since I want you guys to be happy. Hope you enjoy sorry for any mistakes, this isn't proofed. _**

"Okay, yes, I'll be there soon, I just have to arrange cover for my next class, thank you for letting me know, goodbye." Byron said into the phone and letting out a frustrated reply.

"Everything okay?" Ezra asked as she entered the office he and Byron shared.

"No. the school just called, Aria's sick and they need me to pick her up since she is too bad to drive home herself. So now I need to arrange cover for my next class, move back my meeting and cancel my inspection which is NOT going to look good at all. Byron rambled as he paced a small section of the office.

"Why don't I go and pick her up?" Ezra suggested thinking on his feet.

"You would do that?" Byron asked as he stopped pacing.

"Of course I would. Think about it if I go and pick her up you won't have to get cover, cancel meeting and inspection and Aria can be nice and comfortable in her own home rather than the Nurse's office. It's win win."

"You're right. Thank you Ezra, it means so much you're willing to help. I'll call the school and let them know you'll be picking her up instead of me." Byron said as he got his cell out before remembering something else. "Oh and Ezra do you mind staying with her till I get home? She tends to get emotional when she is ill and hates it when she is left alone."

"Sure, I'll stay with her as long as you're okay with that." Ezra asked making sure Byron was fine with the two of them being in the house alone.

"As long as my little girl is not alone and happy I don't care what you do." Byron said before realising what he had just said. "Scratch that, I do care." He corrected himself.

"Don't worry, I'll stay with her and do my best to make her happy. Just not like that." Ezra told Byron not wanting him to worry and stress more than he already was.

"Thank you." Byron said once again. At this moment in time he was extremely grateful for Ezra as without him he would be a total mess.

"You're welcome. I better go; I don't wanna keep her waiting when she's ill." Ezra said before exiting the office, making his way to his car and then to the school.

Once at the school he quickly found the first aid room and gently knocked on the door.

"Come in." The nurse told him as she led him to the back where Aria was laid down on one of the three beds.

"Ezra?" She whispered once she saw him at the side of her bed. "What are you doing here?" She asked confused.

"You're dad had to work so I offered to come get you and take you home." He said as he took hold of her hand.

"Thank you." She quietly said before closing her eyes again, drifting back to sleep.

"Is she okay?" Ezra asked the Nurse worriedly. "What happened?"

"Yes, she'll be fine; she just passed out earlier and vomited. The cause is probably the heat, nothing serious to worry about.

"What do you recommend I can do for her?" He asked wanting to do as much as he possibly could for his tiny girlfriend.

"Just let her sleep it off, preferably somewhere nice and cold. Maybe have her take a cold bath if she feels up to it, which should cool her down and make her feel better." The nurse advised him.

"Okay, thank you" Ezra said as he tried to wake Aria up so he could take her home. Within the few minutes since she had closed her eyes she had drifted off into a deep sleep.

"Looks like she is out for the count" The school nurse commented after Ezra's many failed attempts at waking her. Ezra pondered what to do for a moment before he came up with a solution. He'd have to carry her.

"Errm, do you think you could help me please? Since I can't wake her I'm just gonna carry her to my car but I'm gonna need a little help with the dozens of doors this school has." Ezra awkwardly asked.

"Of course I can help Hun" She said as she went to open the first door, whilst she did the Ezra gently lifted Aria from the bed, grabbing her purse in the process and began carrying her through the school accompanied by the Nurse. Since lessons were taking place the halls were empty with the exception of a few lingering students.

As Ezra placed Aria in his passenger seat she slightly stirred but didn't wake up. Ezra then thanked the Nurse for her help before he got into the car himself and drove to the Montgomery household.

Once he reached her house Ezra took the spare key Byron had given him and opened the door as well as turning on the air conditioning before going back to Aria. He gently picked her up and carried her through the house to her bedroom. Once there he carefully pulled back her covers before lowering her into her bed and placing the covers back on her. At the feel of the covers on her skin Aria began stirring again only this time instead of falling back to sleep she woke up.

"Ezra?" Aria asked confused as to why he was here and where here was exactly. "Where are we?" She asked him as she tried to get her bearings.

"We're at your house, more specifically your room." He explained as he sat close to her on her bed.

"Why?" She asked still not understanding.

"Don't you remember? You got sick at school and passed out."

"I did?" She asked as she reached for his hand. Once their fingers were laced Ezra gave her hand a soft, loving squeeze in an attempt to make her feel better. It worked, slightly. She still felt beyond crap.

"Yeah, you did. The Nurse thinks it was the heat that got to you and made you sick. "He explained to Aria softly as he placed the palm of his unoccupied hand to her forehead to take her temperature.

"You're still pretty hot. Why don't I go get you a cold flannel? Try and cool you down a bit?" Ezra offered wanting her to feel as comfortable as possible.

"Yes please" Aria replied weakly. Just as Ezra was about to leave her room she spoke. "When you come back, do you think…do you think you could lie with me? I still don't feel too good?" Aria asked him.

"Sure, I'll be right back." Ezra said giving her a kiss on her forehead before leaving in search of the bathroom.

Once Ezra finally found the bathroom, he had entered Byron's room by accident first he quickly went in search of a flannel for Aria. He then drenched the cloth in cold water, rung it out and then proceed to go back to Aria's room.

As he walked through Aria's door he was greeted with the sight of Aria's bare back. She was getting changed into a set of pyjamas. "Sorry." He quickly spat out before turning to face away from her not wanted her to feel violated in anyway.

Aria quickly pulled her pyjama top on over her head before turning to face Ezra who was looking intently at the wall in front of him.

"It's okay, you can look now." She told him as she fiddled with the hem of her top nervously.

As he turned back around Ezra apologised once again. "I'm sorry, I should have knocked or something."

"Don't worry about it. I should have shut the door or something. I just wanted to get changed while I felt up to it." She told him before she began tearing up.

"Hey, don't cry its okay." Ezra told her as he pulled her into a hug, holding her nice and close.

"I'm sorry I always get the water works when I'm ill I'm surprised my Dad didn't warn you. I'm a wreck." Aria muffled into his chest.

"He did, and you know what? I still love you."

"You love me?" she asked as she pulled slightly away so she could see the look on Ezra's face. This was the first time he had said those three little words to her and she was stunned.

Ezra was also slightly stunned by what he had just said. Of course he meant the words he had just said he just didn't imagine when he told her she would be crying into his chest. He recovered quickly before answering her question.

"Yes. Yes I do. I love you Aria." He told her, his words causing both of them to smile.

"I love you too Ezra." Aria replied as she leaned up to kiss him. Ezra leaned down slightly helping her connect her lips to his.

"Now how about we get you into bed so you can get some rest." Ezra suggested once their lips had parted.

"That sounds wonderful." Aria said as she began walking back to her bed. Once she was under the covers she looked at Ezra and asked. "Are you still getting in with me?" Ezra considered if it was a smart move or not before slipping off his shoes and lying on the bed with her. In case Byron came back earlier than expected Ezra lay on top of the covers whilst Aria was nice and snug underneath. He didn't want Byron to come home, see Ezra in bed with Aria and have a heart attack, that wouldn't do any of them any good.

Once Ezra has settled on Aria's bed he felt Aria move beside him as she boldly moved and rested her head on his chest. So they would both be more comfortable Ezra moved his arm out of the way so it was now around Aria, resting on her hip.

"Is that okay?" He asked not wanting her to feel uncomfortable especially in her own room, in her own bed. However he didn't get a response, Ezra manoeuvring himself so he could see Aria's face and smiled at what he discovered, she was sound asleep. He watched the brunette beauty sleep peacefully for a few moments before deciding to get a few winks himself.

Several hours later Byron came home just before 6 after his extremely long day at work. Not wanting to cook Byron had decided to pick up a pizza for himself, Aria and Ezra. Before digging into the food he decided he would first go and check on them both. He knew Ezra was still there keeping his promise to stay as Byron had seen his car parked outside.

He softly walked up the stairs not wanting to wake Aria if she was asleep. He quickly arrived at Aria's door and smiled at the clearly well behaved pair. Byron half expected to come home to the sound of clothes being thrown on but that wasn't the case. He was greeted with the pair of them laid in Aria's bed only she was the only one under the covers. She had her head rested on Ezra's chest just like a few hours before only this time instead of sleeping Ezra was reading the book he had found on Aria's bedside table. Byron could see he was mesmerised by the book whilst he carefully ran his fingers though Aria's silky hair with the hand that wasn't holding the book he was reading.

"How's it going?" Byron asked pulling Ezra from his bubble.

"Oh hey. She's doing okay. She's cooled down a lot but around an hour ago she started puking again. It stopped after 20 minutes but it's taken her ages to fall back asleep." Ezra explained as he put Aria's book back on the side before he began to move off the bed. "I guess I should go now" He said trying his best not to wake Aria up.

"No, it's okay stay." Byron said stopping Ezra's movements. "Clearly she wants you here." He said motioning to Aria's vice grip on Ezra's waist. "I've got some pizza downstairs if you feel brave enough to wake her.

Ezra looked around the room before joking "I don't see anything sharp, I'll give it a try."

Byron let out a small laugh before replying "If she doesn't kill you I'll be downstairs."

Ezra leaned down and softly whispered Aria's name in her ear, at the action she stirred. "Aria, it's time to wake up, you're dad's got you some pizza." He said softly tying to coax her awake.

"I'm not hungry" She mumbled burying her head further into his chest.

"You haven't eaten all day, you need to eat."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do, if you wake up now I'll give you a kiss."

"Not enough, I'm too comfortable."

"Well you won't be if I leave."

"Wait what?" Aria asked opening her eyes and sitting up. "You're not leaving yet are you?"

"No; but I knew if I said that you'd wake up." Ezra remarked.

"You're an ass" Aria told him as she playfully hit his stomach.

"Yeah but you love me."

"Damn right I do, now where's my kiss." Aria said. At her request Ezra kissed her with as much passion as he could muster, at his actions Aria was soon awake.

"Now did someone mention pizza?" She asked once their lips reluctantly parted for a breath.

"Yes, your dad has one downstairs for you."

"Don't you mean for us? Don't you want pizza too?" Aria asked Ezra as he got out of her bed, Aria followed suit and got out too.

"Hey, I never say no to pizza but I doubt your Dad's gonna want me to stay any longer."

"Why not?" She asked before adding. "It doesn't matter what he wants, I want you to stay and have some pizza therefore you are staying." Aria told him as she grabbed his hand and led him down the stairs. Ezra thought about continuing their conversation but the determination in Aria's voice told him no matter what Byron thought or said Aria wasn't letting him go.

"Hey Dad." Aria said as the couple descended the stairs.

"Hey Hunny, how are you feeling?" Byron asked as he began eating a rather large piece of pizza.

"I'm doing okay. Is it alright if Ezra's stays for pizza?" She said as she opened the small vegetarian pizza box Byron had gotten just for her.

"Of course he can, why do you think I got the largest pizza there is."

"I thought you were just feeling greedy, like usual." Aria joked as she took a bite of her pizza.

"Very funny." Byron replied. "Just eat your pizza, you too Ezra, I can't eat the whole thing by myself, I'm not my daughter."

"Hey! That was one time" Aria laughed as she nudged her father playfully before polishing off another slice of pizza. She had just finished the slice when she began to feel sick again. In the blink of an eye she got up off the couch and proceeded to run as fast as she possibly could to the downstairs bathroom.

"Is she okay?" Byron asked before they heard the sound of Aria violently puking was heard.

"I'm gonna go with no." Ezra said as he placed his uneaten slice of pizza back in the box. "I'm going to go check on her." He said as he stood and began walking towards the noise Aria was making.

"If you need me just call" Byron said as he watched the young man go after his daughter, better him than me Byron thought.

"Aria?" Ezra said as he gently knocked on the bathroom door. "Can I come in?" He asked as he gently edged the door open.

"No, go away; I don't want you to see me like this." She said shooing him away. He ignored her and walked in anyway.

"It's gonna be okay." He said as he crouched down at the side of her and began rubbing her back softly.

"No it's not." She replied as she lifted her head from it's place in the toilet bowl.

"Is there anything I can do?" Ezra offered. Before Aria could reply another wave of nausea hit her. Ezra quickly took hold of her hair with one hand as he carried on rubbing her back with the other.

"I'm sorry." Aria said as she began to cry.

"Hey, it's okay, don't cry." He said as he reached out to swipe the tears from her cheeks.

The pair stayed in the bathroom for another 20 minutes before deciding it was okay for Aria to move more than a foot from the toilet bowl. Ezra helped Aria to stand, stayed whilst she brushed her teeth then walked with her back to the living room. Half way she began to feel faint again and started to fall. Before she had a chance to make it even half way to the ground Ezra scooped her up into his arms and carried her bridal style the rest of the way.

"Is she okay?" Byron asked once he saw his Daughter in Ezra's arms. His eyes instantly went wide and he stood up.

"Yeah she just went a little wobbly. I'm sure after some more sleep she'll be fine. I'll just take her back upstairs and then I'll go." Ezra said.

"No" Aria quickly said as she tightened her arms around Ezra's neck. "Stay please, I don't wanna be alone."

"You're not gonna be alone, your Dad's here." Ezra told her. Aria pouted at his words and was about to reply when Byron cut in.

"You can stay." Byron told the pair.

"Really?" Aria asked sure she had imagined her fathers words.

"Yes; but your bedroom door stays open."

"Of course" Ezra replied before thanking him.

"Yes, thank you dad."

"You're welcome, now go and get some sleep you look terrible." Byron told his daughter truthfully.

"Thanks Dad, you always know what to say to make me feel better" Aria said sarcastically before adding, "Goodnight." The two men then shared their goodnights before Ezra carried Aria up the stair to her room and placed her back into her bed. Just like before he got in with her only this time under the covers. Aria quickly scooted to his side and got comfortable before falling into a peaceful slumber.


	6. Chapter 6

Friendly Dinner Chapter 6

"I'm so glad you're back at school Ar, we missed you." Emily told Aria before Hanna joined in.

"Yeah, it isn't the same without you."

"Thanks Han but I doubt I make that much of a difference. I'm glad I'm back too though, a week off was more than enough." Aria replied putting her books into her locker before she, Spencer, Hanna and Emily began their walk to English class, it was the only one all four girls shared together.

"Hey did you guys hear, we have a new English teacher?" Spencer asked the girls.

"I hope it's someone hot" Hanna said alloud. All the girls stopped and looked at the blonde. "I'm just saying a bit of eye candy would be nice around here."

"Do you know who it is?" Emily asked.

"Not a clue." She replied as they reached the door. Once there they all came face to face with their new teacher, Aria froze in place at the sight before her.

"Mom?" She said causing her Mom to look up at her daughter. Aria didn't know what to do. The memories of Ella abandoning her and her father flashed through her mind and all Aria could do was stare as her eyes began to well up with hot, fresh tears as the woman walked towards her, stopping in front of the small group of girls.

"Aria. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner I thought I'd have more time." Ella explained but Aria heard none of it as she was too stunned to take in anything that was happening at this very moment.

"Aria, are you okay?" Spencer asked her friend, pulling her out of the bubble she had hibernated in for the last few seconds.

"I...I...can't" Aria said raising her hands, like one would do as a sign of surrender. She then moved passed Hanna and Emily who had been stood behind her and made her way to her car as fast as she could.

After a few shaky attempts at trying to get the key in the ignition she finally succeeded and began driving to her new destination

" So if we start section three tomorrow we should be able to get through the whole unit by the end of the semester if all goes well." Byron explained to Ezra who sat on the opposite side of his desk, leafing through yet another stack of papers.

" That should work." Ezra replied finally able to find the sheet he had spent the last 15 minutes looking for before handing Byron the next pile he had to go through.

Byron was about to complain once again when the tiny brunette that is Aria Montgomery burst through the door, tears streaming down her delicate face.

"Aria? What happened?" Byron quickly asked at the sight of the clearly distraught girl. Both men moved out of their seats and went straight to her side.

"M...Mom...she's... back" Aria barely managed to get out.

"Hunny calm down, you're not making any sense. There's no way Ella is back she'd have told us." Byron told his daughter not quite understanding what she was talking about.

"No...she.." Aria chocked out before clutching her chest, she was having some sort of panic attack causing it to be very difficult for her to breath. Luckily Ezra had seen this happen with people before and spotted the signs.

"Aria, hey, look at me." He said as he crouched down so they were the same height. At his words Aria instantly looked straight ahead, her eyes instantly connecting with his. He softly ran his hands up and down the sides of her arms before he spoke again.

"It's gonna be okay, just try and take deep breaths for me, you can do that for me right?" He asked keeping his voice calm and gentle. Aria nodded her head yes as she began to take deep breaths. The first few tries it was clear she was struggling so Ezra adapted her breathing so Aria could follow the steady rhythm easily. Once Aria's breathing got slightly steadier Ezra stopped his movements on her arms and took hold of both of her hands instead.

"Now think of a happy place, anywhere you want as long as it's somewhere that you feel relaxed. Can you do that for me?" Ezra asked in that soft voice of his, once again Aria nodded yes as she let her thoughts take her to her happy place. As she thought of said place she couldn't help but smile, she was thinking about the night Ezra stayed at her house for the first time, the first time he had kissed her and of course the picture of his butt she shamelessly has as her current screen saver. After a few minutes she began to feel better as her breathing returned to normal.

Once Aria felt that she was 100% back to normal, well as normal as she could be she opened her eyes, she had previously closed them to help her. As she opened her eyes she was met once again with the sight of Ezra's baby blue orbs she adored so much.

"Thank you" She told him as she pulled him into a hug, she'd have kissed him but her Dad was less than a foot from the pair.

"No problem" Ezra said as he kissed her forehead. "How about we sit down?" He asked motioning to the couch that resided against the back wall of the office. The pair sat down, side by side hands still interlocked. Byron stood still as the pair moved to the couch, he was still shocked by all that had happened in the space of ten minutes, it was a lot to take in.

"Are you okay to talk about what made you so upset?" Ezra asked as he put a comforting hand on the small of Aria's back.

"Yes, what was that all about Ella being back?" Byron asked as he went to sit in the chair that had been previously occupied by Ezra.

"When I went into English class this morning, she was there. I swear she was, we all saw her, she's the new English teacher." Aria explained.

"Did she say anything to you?" Byron asked after a short pause.

"I think so yeah, but I don't know what. I sort of spaced out in shock when I saw her then when I snapped out of it I left and came straight here."

"Okay." Byron said as he thought about the situation. "I'll wait until lunch, then I'll go over to the school and talk to her." Byron said.

"Really? After all she did you're just gonna go over there and talk to her, just like that." Aria spat out.

"What else do you suggest I do?" Byron replied. Talking to Ella was the only thing he could do right now.

"Ignore her. Ignore her like she ignored us for two frickin' years" Aria said. It sounded like more of a demand than a suggestion.

"That won't solve anything Aria. I have to go and talk to her and find out why she is back and how long for. We have to figure out how it is going to work now she is back. Now you can stay here till lunch so you can have a chance to calm down and then I will take you back to school and go talk to your Mother." Byron told Aria firmly. Once he had finished Aria stood up, pissed at his request.

"Like hell I am. There is no way I am going back while she is there, not until she explains how it was so easy for her to forget about me." Aria said, both men could tell the petite girl was filled with rage at this point.

"Aria maybe..." Ezra began to say but she cut him off.

"No Ezra, it hurt like hell when she left, I'm not just gonna pretend like that didn't happen and play happy families just because she decided to come back."

"No one is asking you to do that." Byron told her.

"Maybe not right this second but eventually either you or Mom will convince me to forgive her for leaving and as soon as I do she's just gonna leave again." Aria said crying once again, it seemed like all she ever did these last few weeks was cry. At the first sight of tears Ezra stood up from his place on the couch and pulled her into a hug, despite the fact that he knew Byron was watching him, all he wanted to do was make his girlfriend happy again.

"I'm sorry Dad, but I can't forgive her." Aria told him as she moved in Ezra's arms to look at her Dad but still stayed in his tight embrace.

"Okay, change of plan. Ezra I want you to take the day off, spend it with Aria, I don't want her alone right now and she's clearly not going to go back to school willingly." Aria thought about protesting that she didn't need a babysitter, that she was old enough to take care of herself, but after thinking about it for a moment she realized she would be spending the day with Ezra and suddenly Byron's suggestion for them to spend the day together was the best idea she's ever heard him come up with.

"Go and see a movie or something, I don't know, what ever you guys want. In the mean time I'm gonna cancel my classed for the rest of the day and go to the school to talk to Ella now, it's not far off lunch anyway so push come to shove I'll just wait in the office or something. Once I've talked to her I'll call you, we can meet back at the house and talk about what's going to happen from there, does that sound okay to you?" Byron asked, Aria just nodded her head as Ezra grabbed his bag from the side.

"Okay, lets go Aria" He said as he walked with the girl out of the office and towards his car.

"I just don't get it." Aria said once Ezra began driving.

"Get what?" Ezra asked her.

"Why she decided to come back, I mean why now?"

"Maybe she realized she made a mistake leaving you both. Maybe she misses you, maybe she wants to start over again." Ezra tried to reason in the defense of Ella.

"I don't know. It just seems sketchy to me." Aria said as she laced her and Ezra's hands together.

Meanwhile in the other direction of town Byron Montgomery was pacing his office. He had no idea how he was going to deal with Ella, how he was going to talk to her in a calm manor. He was still bitter about her leaving; yes he had cheated but he didn't agree with how she left things. She shouldn't have left the way she did, without saying goodbye.

At the memory Byron couldn't help but see the image of Aria crushed once he told her her Mother had left them. He could still hear her heart breaking cries almost two years later.

He let out a frustrated sigh, he considered not going to the school and talking to Ella before remembering he'd all but promised her he would go and deal with this mess. Before he lost his bottle he grabbed his car keys and phone from his desk, then began making his way towards Rosewood High.

By the time he made it to the school it was almost lunch time. He made his way straight to the English corridor in search of the room Ella occupied. In the second to last room he found her. She was grading papers in the empty classroom, since she didn't have a class Byron decided to knocked on the door.

"Come in" She called without even looking up from the currant essay she was marking.

Byron entered the room, closed the door behind him then walked towards her desk. Once she saw the shadow of him she looked up.

"Byron." Ella said in shock at seeing her husband stood just the other side of her desk. She put the lid back on the pen she was using then placed it back in the pot on the edge of her desk.

"Hello Ella." Byron said managing to stay calm like he promised himself he would.

"How's Aria?" Ella asked. "When I saw her this morning she looked so pale. I got worried."

"Oh you got worried did you?. Byron said through gritted teeth. "What about during the last two years? Did you get worried then?" He asked he anger beginning to rise.

Ella stood from her chair. "Of course I did, she's my baby girl."

"So why didn't you call her?"

"Because it was too hard." Ella replied.

"It was too hard to pick up the damn phone and spend a few minutes talking to our daughter? She was devastated when you left, I used to hear her cry in the night she missed you that much." Byron told her raising his voice slightly as his anger started to shine through even more now.

"Yes Byron it was too hard, she lied to me for months." Ella rebutted raising her voice as she spoke.

"She did it to protect you Ella, she didn't want our family to fall apart."

"She should have told me as soon as she found out, in fact it never should have happened in the first place."

"I know it shouldn't have and I'm sorry that it did but you shouldn't have taken it out on her. I never meant to hurt you Ella."

"Well you did, you both did." Ella replied. Byron decided to stay silent as he took a moment to calm down. He could see they were getting no where.

"I know I, we made mistakes, we all did, all three of us and I'm sorry for my part in that I truly am." Byron told his wife remorsefully. "Why are you back Ella?" Byron asked getting straight to the point of his impromptu visit.

"Before this whole mess I applied for a teaching job here. At the time they didn't need me but said they'd keep me on file in case a job opened up. A job did and they called me three days ago. I thought I had more time to tell you and Aria but I didn't. When I came in this morning I thought I was finalizing paperwork not teaching, I was going to call or stop by but I knew we'd just fight and bicker and I didn't want to do that." Ella explained.

"So you thought it would be better for Aria to just see you here at school?" Byron asked, his anger getting the better of him again.

"No I...I...I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I wasn't." Ella admitted.

"Damn right you weren't." Byron shouted.

"Byron please, stop shouting, it's not helping."

"It's helping me." Byron screamed back.

"No it's not." Ella screamed back. Just as Byron was about to scream back at her his phone began ringing. He thought about ignoring it and continuing their argument but once he saw it was Ezra calling him he decided to answer the call, momentarily putting his argument with Ella on hold.

"Excuse me." He said before hitting 'answer' on his phone.

"Ezra wait... slow down.. take a breath... what happened?" Byron asked worriedly down the phone. On the other end of the line Ezra did as the man asked before telling him what had happened. "Just try to stay calm, I'll be right there." He told Ezra before ending the call.

"Who is Ezra?" Ella asked curiously.

"He's my intern at Hollis and Aria's boyfriend." Byron told her as he tried to take in what Ezra had just told him.

"Aria has a boyfriend?" Ella asked shocked by the information. When she left Aria had absolutely no interest in boys and now she had a boyfriend. Ella was happy her daughter had found someone but her motherly instincts made her worry slightly, like all mothers do when their daughter starts dating. "What did he want?" She asked. At her words Byron stayed silent causing Ella to look at him, she could see he had gone just as white if not whiter than Aria had earlier this morning.

"Is everything okay? Byron?" She asked edging herself closer to him. "Byron? What happened?" she asked worriedly, she placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

"That was Ezra, he said... he said there's been an accident." Byron tried his best to get the words out. He felt like his chest was caving in on him with every word. "A car crashed into them." He continued.

"Them?" Ella asked cutting him off.

"Him and Aria" Byron answered, the color began to drain from Ella face too.

"He's at the hospital." Byron told her before taking a deep breath. He took his eyes off the floor and looked at Ella as he spoke again.

"Aria got hurt."

**_A/N Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a review and let me know how I'm doing. Sorry for any mistakes. _**


	7. Chapter 7

Friendly Dinner

Chapter 7

**_A/N Hey guys thank you so much for the reviews, favourites and follows. I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am, if you have any ideas about what you want to see in this story feel free to leave a review or PM because I'm running out of ideas. Sorry for any mistakes, this isn't proofed. I'll shut up now and let you enjoy. _**

"What do you mean 'Aria got hurt'?" Ella asked doing her best to keep her emotions in check.

"I don't know, that's all Ezra said." Byron told her as he leaned against one of the pupils desks, his legs could no longer support him fully due to the shock.

The pair stayed silent before Byron shook his head and stood up. "I have to get to the hospital." He said aloud as he exited the room, sprinting his way to the parking lot.

"I'm coming with you." Ella called as she grabbed her bag from the side of her desk before running to catch up with Byron. She just managed to catch up with him as he reached his car and got in. without thinking Ella ran to the car, opened the passenger door and got in.

"What are you doing?" Byron asked from his seat as he fumbled with his keys.

"I'm coming to the hospital with you." She replied putting her seatbelt on.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Byron told her as he finally managed to put the key in the ignition.

"She's my daughter Byron; there is no way in hell I'm not coming too."

Byron didn't want Ella to come with him. But he knew there was no way she would get out of the car without a fight. He didn't want to waste anymore time so he let her stay. He let out a frustrated sigh before putting the car into gear then driving way over the speed limit to the hospital.

After finally finding a place to park after 30 long minutes the parents got out of the car and sprinted in search of Ezra.

Minutes were spent searching for Ezra when all of a sudden Byron called, "There he is." As he pointed towards a man that was pacing the waiting room, he hadn't seen them yet since he had his back towards them. "Ezra." Byron called, as he turned around Byron and Ella could both tell this was not good news by the way he looked.

His hair was a mess since he had run his hands through it many times. He had tear stains on his cheeks from the crying he had been doing since he arrived at the hospital and he also had small blotches of blood on his jumper. At the sight of the blood Ella began to panic as Byron's eyes went wide.

"I'm so sorry Byron." Ezra said as they stood in front of one another.

"What happened?" Byron asked.

"We were at the lights on Cherry Street and out of nowhere this car just hit us." He explained, Byron and Ella stayed silent for a moment.

"Where did the car hit?" Byron asked. "How come you're stood here but not Aria?"

"The car hit the passenger side; it dented the door and smashed the window."

"And the blood? That's Aria's right?" Ella asked, even though Ezra had never met her before he knew that the woman asking him about the blood was Aria's mother. They had the same shaped nose and big expressionate eyes.

"Yes, it is…the…the glass from the window, it shattered, and when it landed it cut her skin, a lot." Ezra explained. He had managed to keep a lid on his emotions while he was explaining what had happened but now he was struggling.

"I'm so sorry Byron, it's my entire fault."

Byron could see the boy was losing it and pulled him into a man hug. "This wasn't your fault Ezra, there was nothing you could have done, it's gonna be okay." Byron reassured him.

"Are you the Montgomery family?" A doctor in a long white coat asked them causing the men to break away from their hug.

"Yes that's us." Byron confirmed.

"Hello I'm Dr Wren Kingston, I'm Aria's Doctor." Wren said as he introduced him self to all three of them and shaking all threes hand.

"Please tell me she's going to be okay." Byron said not wanting to have to wait any longer if it was bad news.

Wren quickly put all three out of their misery. "Eventually yes." All three let out a sigh of relief. "When Aria came in she has a concussion and several dozen cuts caused by the glass shattering. She also had several that were stuck into her skin. Initially that wasn't as worrying as it may seem but after a full assessment we discovered a rather large piece had punctured the skin of her abdomen causing a deep cut. Luckily it hasn't caused any permanent internal damage but she did have to have surgery to remove it and also had quite a lot of stitches. That's why we couldn't let you see her when she first came in." He explained, motioning towards Ezra at the end of his sentence.

"Everything went well with the surgery and she has just woken up, she asked me to find someone called Ezra, I'm assuming that's you?" Wren asked Ezra.

"Yeah that's me. Can I see her?" Ezra asked eagerly.

"Yes all of you can but I must warm you her whole right side is severely bruised and fragile so I don't recommend any bear hugs as it will only cause her pain and make her injuries worse." Wren warned them. "If you would like to follow me I'll take you to her." He said as he began walking towards the room Aria resided in, room B-26.

As soon as Dr Kingston had opened the door Ezra rushed in. His heart broke at the sight of Aria lying in the hospital bed. She looked so pale still and it frightened him. He could see she had a large pad on her head protecting a cut she had sustained, she had her arms on top of the covers so he was also able to see the deep bruising her arm has sustained as well as the small cuts that covered the entire length of her arms.

At seeing the door begin to open Aria shot her head up to see who was there, as soon as she saw it was Ezra she held her arms out towards him, silently asking him to go to her.

He got the message and went to her. As he reached her he leaned his forehead against hers as both his hands cupped either side of her face. "You're okay." He whispered not quite believing she was there. Just a few hours ago he thought he was going to lose her.

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, making she this really was real, that his imagination wasn't just working in overdrive, that she really was okay.

"You're okay." He repeated once their lips parted.

"I'm okay." Aria whispered back as she too cupped his face.

While the encounter was taking place Ella and Byron were having a heated discussion outside.

"I don't think you should go in there." Byron told Ella as he stopped her going into the room.

"Why not? She's my daughter too." Ella asked disgusted that Byron was trying to keep her from her child.

"Because she's mad at you and I don't want her getting any more upset or stressed if she sees you. She's been through way too much already." Byron explained.

"Tough." Ella said as she walked past Byron and entered the room anyway just as Ezra parted his lips from Aria's. Aria paid no attention to her parents entering the room as her focus was solely on the man she loved that was right in front of her.

"When can we take her home?" Byron asked, pulling the couple out of their bubble. They removed their forehead from the others but stayed close as Ezra took a seat on the chair at the side of the bed, keeping a firm grip on her left hand.

"We want to keep her in for observation, 48 hours at the least, we need to keep an eye on her concussion, stitches and bruises, all being well you should be able to go home Thursday. Wren told Aria.

"But I wanna go home now, I don't like it here." She replied.

"I'm sorry Miss Montgomery but you don't have a choice.

"But I don't wanna be alone." She told him as her face screwed up as she tried her best not to cry, the thought of being alone in the big hospital terrified her.

"You won't be alone, I'll stay with you." Ezra told her instantly making Aria feel better.

"I'm afraid you can't do that." Wren interrupted; once again Aria's stomach became a bottomless pit.

"Why not?" Ezra asked.

"It's against Hospital policy." Wren explained.

"Please, can't you make an exception, just this once?" Byron pleaded quietly. Wren thought about it for a moment and was about to say no but took a second to look at Aria. Just a few seconds was all it took for him to realise there was no way her condition would stay stable if she had to be alone.

"Alright he can stay, but only him. I'll put a note on her chart so security doesn't throw him out and I'll try to get a spare bed in here so you're more comfortable."

"Thank you." Aria said sincerely.

"Yes, thank you Doctor. Is there any thing we can do to thank you?" Byron asked.

"Don't tell my supervisor, or anyone else for that matter."

"We promise we won't" Ella said speaking for all of them. At the sound of her mothers voice Aria shot her head towards Ella. Up until now she hadn't noticed the woman was in the room. Her focus had been solely on Ezra and Dr Kingston.

"I'm afraid I have to go as I have rounds, you can stay for another 20 minutes but then you'll have to leave." Wren told Ella and Byron before focusing his attention on Aria.

"Aria, if you need anything, anything at all just press the button at the side of you and a Nurse will come right in. Is there any last questions before I go?" He asked all four of then shook their heads no.

"In that case then I'll go. I'll come back and check on you soon Aria, goodbye." He said before leaving the four of them alone in the room. The only sound that could be heard was the steady rhythm of the heart monitor that Aria was hooked up to. After a few moments Ella broke the silence.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Ella told her daughter as she stayed still in her place by the door. "I was so worried."

"Glad to see you actually care." Aria said sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ella asked.

"It means I didn't hear a peep from you in almost two whole years and now all of a sudden you care."

"I never stopped caring about you Aria."

"Could've fooled me." Aria replied sarcastically. Just then the sound of the heart monitor she was attached to began to speed up and beep rather loudly causing Byron to interject.

"Okay this ends now. Ella you need to leave."

"But…" Ella began but was cut off by Byron.

"Now. Right now you are causing nothing but trouble and Aria needs to feel relaxed right now not stressed, frustrated and upset." Byron told her firmly.

"Fine, but we have to talk about everything at some point." She told him before she exited the room after taking one final look at Aria.

"Thank you for getting rid of her Dad." Aria said once Ella had left.

"No problem Sweetie, she wasn't doing any good and I wasn't going to let her upset you anymore than she already has today." Byron told his daughter as he walked towards her stopping once he reached the side of her bed. "How are you feeling Hun?" He asked.

"Much better now that she's gone. How about you?"

"I'm doing better now I know you're okay. I was so scared when Ezra called." Byron told.

"I think we all were." Ezra admitted.

"Well you can stop now cause I'm fine and coming home soon."

"And I cannot wait." Byron told her before looking at his wrist watch. "I better get going before they kick me out. Is there anything I can get you from home and bring you tomorrow?" Byron asked wanting her to be as comfortable as possible.

"Could you bring me some clean pajamas and errm…some underwear please, oh and a toothbrush, toothpaste and a hair brush please?" Aria asked.

"Of course I can Hunny. I'll bring it through tomorrow morning before work." Byron said. He then kissed her on her forehead, said his goodbyes and then left the two alone for the night.

**_A/N Hope you enjoyed it, leave a review and let me know how I did? _**


	8. Chapter 8

Friendly Dinner

Chapter 8

**_A/N Hey guys hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry for any mistakes, this isn't proofed. I'm pretty much out of ideas for this story so any suggestions would be extremely appreciated, thank you. _**

On his way home Byron decided he would stop by the Hastings's house so he could inform Spencer of what had happened and then she could tell Hanna and Emily at school tomorrow. Soon he was at their front door and knocked on it. Veronica Hastings was the one to answer it.

"Byron, is everything okay?" She asked worried by the mans dishevelled appearance.

"No. I was wondering if Spencer was home. Aria was in an accident and I need her help."

"Of course yes, Spencer." She called before asking. "Is she okay? Is it serious?"

"She's at the Hospital but she's okay." Byron told her.

"Mr Montgomery? Is everything okay?" Spencer asked as she walked towards Byron and Veronica who were stood just inside the doorway.

"No, I'm afraid Aria's been in an accident…" He began to explain before a worried Spencer cut him off.

"She's still alive though isn't she?" Spencer asked panicked. The thought of losing another friend was unbearable.

"Yes but she's in the Hospital. She has to stay there for a few days and asked me to bring her a few things like pyjamas, underwear and toiletries and since I'm rubbish with that kind of stuff and don't know what she likes I was hoping you could help me?" Byron asked hopefully, he really didn't want to have to go through his daughter's underwear drawer.

"Of course I can help you, but why me?" Spencer asked curiosity getting the best of her.

"In all honesty you were the first one I thought of and to get home I have to drive by here so I thought I would ask." Byron told her truthfully.

"When does she need her stuff by?" Spencer asked.

"I'm going to take it to her first thing tomorrow morning." Byron replied.

"In that case then why don't I follow you in my car and come and get her bag ready now for you?" Spencer suggested. Even though she was a morning person her morning schedule was full so she would rather do this now at 6pm rather than 6am.

"Sure that sounds good. Is that okay with you Veronica?" Byron asked Spencer's mom not wanting to ruin any plans she might have had.

"That's fine." She replied. "Give Aria my best when you see her."

"I will Thank you." Byron replied before getting back into his car and driving home with Spencer following close behind.

"I'll leave you to it." Byron said as he left Spencer in Aria's room after he had explained to her in detail what had happened to Aria since she had last seen her.

Spencer quickly got to work at gathering the items Aria had asked for. She grabbed a medium sized light blue hold all out of the closet and loaded it with several pairs of pyjama sets. She knew Ezra was there with Aria so she made sure to pack the extra cute one. She then decided on several sets of underwear and threw those in too. She then walked into Aria's bathroom to get her toothbrush, toothpaste and hair brush before throwing them in along with a few hair ties Spencer had seen on the counter.

Spencer then went to Aria's dresser and picked her deodorant before putting that in the bag too. She then scanned the room to make sure she wasn't missing anything and after deciding she was not she zipped the bag up and descended the stairs.

"Did you get everything?" Byron asked once he saw her coming down the stairs, bag in tow.

"Yes, I even threw in a few things that she forgot, you know like deodorant." Spencer replied.

"I'm glad you thought of that, I'm sure she'll need that in the morning. Thank you Spencer."

"No problem Mr Montgomery, I'm happy to help, so are Hanna and Emily so don't hesitate to come to either of us if you need any help in the future."

"I will do." Byron replied as he poured himself his second scotch since he had got in the house. The day had been a long one and he desperately needed something to take the edge off.

"You know if you want I can go through and give Aria this tonight." Spencer said as she motioned towards the bag she was still holding.

"That's very kind of you but you won't be able to get in. it's after hours." Byron told her as he knocked back the scotch in his hand.

"That's no problem. I have a friend who works there; he'll let me take it to her." Spencer replied.

"In that case then okay, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." Spencer told him as she made her way to the front door.

"When you're there will you let her know I'm still gonna come see her tomorrow morning before work please?"

"Of course I'll tell her for you. I'll see you soon Mr Montgomery." Spencer replied before leaving the Montgomery household and making her way to Rosewood General Hospital.

"Wren." Spencer called as she exited the elevator and spotted him.

"Spencer? What are you doing here?" He asked as he walked towards the leggy brunette.

"My friends here for a few days so I got her some essentials." She said lifting the bag so he could see. "Do you think you could help me give it to her? I know it's after hours but I'll be quick." She explained then asked him.

"It depends who your friend is and what room she is in." He told her.

"I don't know what room she is in but her name is Aria Montgomery, she was in a car crash with her boyfriend earlier today." She explained hoping he could help her.

"You're in luck, I'm her doctor. I can take you to her room now if you want?"

"Yes please." She replied before following him to Aria's room. It was only a short walk and soon enough they reached the door.

"Thank you Wren." She said before placing her hand on the door handle.

"No problem Spence." Wren replied before leaving.

Spencer carefully opened the door not wanting to wake Aria if she was sleeping. At the sound of the door opening both Aria and Ezra looked up to see who it was. Aria let out a smile once she saw it was Spencer.

"Spence, Hey." Aria said as she held her arms out ready for a hug, just like she had dome with Ezra.

At the sight of her tiny friend Spencer couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She looked terrible with all her cuts and bruises. Without wasting another second she gave Aria a soft and gentle hug not wanting to cause her friend anymore pain.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Spencer told her as they pulled away from the hug.

"Me too." Aria replied before asking. "What are you doing here?"

"Your dad stopped by on his way home to let me know what had happened to you, then he told me how you asked him for a few things and he didn't know what stuff you liked so he asked me for my help." Spencer explained as she sat on one of the chairs at the side of the bed.

"You didn't have to do that." Aria told her.

"You're kidding right? No way was I letting you stay in that groggy hospital gown longer than necessary. Just the thought of it would give Hanna a heart attack." Spencer replied causing all three of them to laugh.

"You're not wrong there Spence." Aria replied.

"How about I go for a walk and find some coffee while Spencer helps you with your pyjamas?" Ezra suggested.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like I'm pushing you out or anything." Spencer asked not wanting him to leave on her account.

"Yes I'm sure. I could use a walk anyway; these chairs aren't the most comfortable." Ezra replied before giving Aria a kiss on the forehead and promising he would be back soon. Once he had left Spencer spoke again.

"He's cute."

"Very cute." Aria replied.

"Good thing I packed the cute pyjamas, speaking of which lets get you into them." Spencer said before going over to where she had dropped the hold all when she entered the room. She pulled out one of the pyjama sets then began helping Aria change.

The pair had finally finished getting Aria changed and was now enjoying a light conversation of gossiping when Ezra arrived back.

"There you are." Aria said. "I was beginning to think you had left me."

"Sorry." He replied sitting back down next to her. "I underestimated how far the coffee would actually be and then when I got there it was awful. I only meant to be 20 minutes not over an hour, sorry." He apologised again as he took Aria's delicate hand in his.

"It's okay. You're here now, that's all that matters." Aria told him as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I should probably get going now. I have a ton of Chemistry work I need to get done." Spencer said as she stood from her seat.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Aria asked slightly sad that her friend was leaving her before remembering Ezra would be there with her all night, preventing her from being alone.

"Yeah, I'll bring the girls tomorrow, after school, if you want?"

"Yes please, it'll be nice to see them."

"Then it's a plan." Spencer replied giving Aria a gentle hug. "Oh before I forget," She began once the hug ended. "Even though I brought you your stuff your dad is still gonna come through and see you tomorrow before work." Spencer said nearly forgetting.

"Okay, thank you Spence."

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow, nice to meet you Ezra." Spencer said as she made her way towards the door.

"You too Spencer." Ezra replied as she slipped out of the door leaving the couple alone.

"How are you feeling?" Ezra asked.

"A little sore but I'm okay, the meds they're giving me are great." Aria replied as she moved into a more comfortable position.

"I'm so sorry Aria." Ezra apologised as he held onto her hand a little bit tighter.

"It wasn't your fault Ezra; it was the guy who hit us who is at fault."

"I know but I keep thinking maybe if I'd done something, anything you wouldn't be sat here in pain." He said as he looked away from her. He couldn't face looking into her eyes as he spoke.

"Hey, look at me." She told him, he took a few seconds before he did as she asked. "It wasn't your fault okay; none of this is your fault. Do you believe me?"

"Yes I believe you I just feel bad."

"Well don't, you don't need to. Yes I look bad and I hurt a little but I'm okay, now come here and give me a kiss." She told him. He stood up at her demand, leaned close to her, so she didn't have to move and planted his lips against hers, ultimately making her feel 100 times better already.


	9. Chapter 9

Friendly Dinner

Chapter 9

**_Okay so I know this took forever for me to upload and I'm sorry, but it's over 3,000 words so I hope that makes up for it. I don't quite know how I feel about the end of the chapter so some feedback would be great please. This isn't proofed so sorry for any mistakes. Also towards the end it may get slightly steamy, just a warning. Now enjoy! And please review. _**

"How are you feeling today Aria?" Dr Kingston asked the teen. She had spent the last two days in the Hospital and he could tell she was itching to go home.

"I'm okay thanks. I just want to go home now, I'm sick of being here." Aria told him truthfully.

"Well I have some good news for you, you're being released today." Wren told her happily. At the news both Aria and Ezra instantly smiled.

"Really?" Aria asked needing to be sure she hadn't just imagined the words he had just spoke.

"Yes. We should have you out of here by 5ish." He told her as he made a start on the necessary paperwork.

That's great." Ezra commented as he squeezed Aria's hand tighter.

"Yes, thank you Doctor." Aria told him. He had been nothing but caring to her since she had arrived. He had made her feel extremely comfortable and rather relaxed during her short stay and Aria was extremely grateful he had gone out of his way to go the extra mile for her.

"You're more than welcome. You've been a pleasure to treat. I wish you all the best." Wren replied to Aria before saying his goodbyes, leaving Aria and Ezra in the room alone.

"I can't believe I actually get to go home today. I can't wait."

"Me either." Ezra replied. "It breaks my heart seeing you in that Hospital bed."

"It wasn't your fault Ezra." Aria reassured him once again.

"I know, I just.. I hate that because of a stupid accident you've had to spend the last couple of days in here. But now I can stop worrying because I get to take you home."

"Yeah you do." Aria replied before giving Ezra a rather long chaste kiss.

"I should probably go call your dad, let him know the good news." Ezra said once their lips parted.

"Yeah, he'll wanna know right away."

"I'll be back soon." Ezra told her. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead then left the room to let Byron know of the good news.

"Finally I'm home." Aria said as she began to open the front door of her home. Ezra stood behind her, holding her bag with a big smile on his face, he knew what was in store for her.

Ad she opened the door Aria jumped as a chorus of people shouting "surprise!" startled her.

At the front of all the people there stood her three best friends.

"Welcome home." Hanna said as she Emily and Spencer made their way towards their tiny friend, taking it in turns to hug her.

"I'm so glad you're back Honey. It's been far too quiet without you here." Byron told his Daughter as he gave her a gentle hug, careful of her bruises.

"Me to Dad, but what is this?" Aria asked referring to all the people in the house celebrating her return.

"It's a party." Emily told her.

"We missed you so much we wanted to celebrate you coming home." Spencer told her before Hanna added "We love you."

"Thank you guys. Thank you dad."

"You're more than welcome Hunny. Now go and have fun, you too Ezra."

"Well that was fun." Aria said as she placed a container full of leftovers in the fridge, ready for tomorrow.

"It was, wasn't it." Ezra said as he finished cleaning the kitchen table by putting the washing up in the sink to soak, then he made his way towards Aria.

Just as Ezra reached her and placed his arm around her Byron entered the kitchen looking rather flustered.

"I'm so sorry Aria." He began as he rooted in a few drawers in search of something. "Your Aunt Brenda just called. She's had a fall and needs my help till Rob, her son can get here."

"That's okay Dad, if she needs you go."

"I'm not leaving you alone though, Ezra, you'll stay with Aria for a day or two won't you?" Byron asked. Aria was still in a rather fragile state, and although most fathers wouldn't want their daughter alone with their boyfriend for the night Byron trusted the pair, that they wouldn't get themselves into trouble. Plus Byron was under no illusion when it came to Aria. He knows that Aria is a young woman now. That she is capable of making her own decisions.

"Of course. As long as she wants me here." Ezra replied.

"Of course I want you here." Aria told him as she hugged herself closer to his side.

"If you need me for anything, anything at all I'm just a phone call away." Byron told the pair before giving Aria a quick hug and leaving.

"So…" Aria began. "Do you wanna watch a movie? It's still kinda early." Aria asked Ezra.

"Yeah sure. That sounds good." Ezra replied as the couple made their way towards the living room.

"Is Forrest Gump okay? It's the only one we have down here, the rest are upstairs." Aria asked.

"That's perfect. I love that movie." Ezra told Aria. "Do you want me to get some popcorn? I saw some on the side in the kitchen." Ezra asked.

"Oh yes please. I forgot to pick it up. Aria told him as she placed the DVD in the player and headed towards the couch were she was joined by Ezra shortly after.

Just over two hours later the popcorn was gone, the movie was finished and Aria had finished saying all the quotes she knew by heart, which turned out to be most of the movie.

Aria and Ezra were snuggled up close on the couch in one another's arms, enjoying one another's company when Aria turned to face him.

"Ezra…" Aria began.

"Yeah." Ezra replied as he too turned his face as he had previously been occupied reading the end credits.

"Thank you." Aria simply said.

"For what?" Ezra asked slightly confused.

"For everything. For staying with me tonight. For staying with me at the hospital. For always being here when I need you. Thank you." Aria said listing off the things she was thankful for.

"You don't have to thank me." Ezra told Aria as he pushed a stray strand of hair behind her left ear. "I'm more than happy to be here for you."

"Yes I do, you mean so much to me." Aria said before she planted her lips harshly upon Ezra's.

Soon their kiss became more heated and Aria found herself straddling Ezra as the pairs lips moved together in perfect sync as they devoured one another.

A few moments later Aria made a move on Ezra's shirt. She was on her way to undo his third button before he spoke up.

"Wait, stop." Ezra said softly as he took his lips off of hers. Aria looked up from the button she was holding.

"WHAT? Why?" she asked with a small pout as she popped the button open anyway.

"You don't have to thank me like this." Ezra told her as he motioned to how she was positioned atop of him.

"Yes I do." Aria replied, going in for another kiss but Ezra stopped.

"No you don't I-"He began to say but was cut off by Aria jumping to conclusions.

"You don't like me like that do you?" She asked as the feeling of humiliation took over her.

"Of course I do, Aria you are beautiful. Anyone who doesn't want you is deluded. But what I'm trying to say is you don't have to thank me with sex. I am perfectly happy sitting here watching a movie with you, holding you in my arms whilst you hog all the popcorn."

"Really?" Aria asked him.

"Yes." Ezra replied giving her a reassuring smile.

"But… But what if I want to anyway?" Aria asked him.

"Are you sure?" Ezra asked her.

"Yes. I've thought about it a lot and I'm ready." Aria told him as she planted her lips on his harshly again. Once their lips parted once more Ezra asked the rather awkward question he needed to know the answer to.

"Have you ever had sex before?" He asked her softly.

Aria dropped her head slightly and avoided his gaze as she began to blush. "No I haven't" She whispered.

Ezra instantly placed his hand on the bottom of her chin before tilting her head up so her hazel eyes met his blue ones.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, it's a good thing." Ezra told her, making her feel slightly better. Once his words had sunk in, that it was okay that she hadn't been with anyone else Aria leaned in to kiss him. As they kissed Aria made a move for the fourth button on Ezra's shirt, this time he allowed her to undo it before stopping for a second and saying.

"If you change your mind at any point just let me know and we'll stop, no matter what.

"I will." Aria replied.

"You promise?" Ezra asked needing to double check. He wanted Aria to feel as comfortable as he could possibly make her.

"I promise. I trust you." Aria said as she kissed him for all he was worth as she undid another button.

"Do you think maybe we should move this some place else?" Ezra asked once Aria had finished with all the buttons on his shirt. "Like maybe your bedroom?" He managed to get out between kisses.

"Good idea." Aria replied as she began to move off Ezra's lap. Ezra stopped her movements instantly.

"What're you doing?" he asked.

"Getting off your lap so we can go to my room." Aria answered.

"No your not." Ezra replied causing Aria tp ;;ok at him slightly confused. She was about to speak up and voice her confusion until she felt Ezra's large hands at the back of her thighs, then he stood up lifting her with him before assending the stairs. Once at the top of the stairs he asked. "Which one's yours?"

"First door on the left." Aria replied as she stopped kissing his neck for a moment.

Once Ezra reached her bedroom he pushed the door open with his foot. As he made his way towards the bed he couldn't help but look around the room mesmerised, the room fitted Aria's personality so perfectly, he loved it.

"You didn't have to carry me you know? My legs work perfectly fine." Aria told him as he placed Aria gently on her bed before sitting next to her.

"I know, but I wanted to. I thought maybe you'd find it romantic."

"I found it very romantic." Aria replied bringing Ezra towards her and kissing him once again. They had done so much kissing their lips were starting to get sore but that didn't stop them, not for one second.

As their kiss began to heat up Aria began to move Ezra's shirt off his shoulders, Ezra got the message, making quick work of removing the unwanted item. Once he was done with his shirt Ezra placed his hands on Aria small waist. Before he had his hands placed on top of the thin material but this time he placed them on her milky soft skin, loving the feeling of the flesh.

Soon Ezra began hutching her shirt further and further up Aria's body. After a few moments he had moved it pasted her torso and the crumpled material was only just covering her bra. Seconds later the pair stopped kissing for a brief moment to catch their breath and Ezra began moving the item off Aria completely. Without any hesitation Aria helped him with the task by raising her arms above her head. Without her shirt on Ezra could now see the deep purple bra she was wearing, causing his mouth to become dry as he looked at her. Aria began to feel slightly self conscious about Ezra's eyes on her body until he spoke.

"You're so beautiful" He told her, making her feel much better as he then attacked her neck with dozens of kisses as well as the tops of her breasts before going back to her neck.

As he began exploring Aria's neck he discovered one of Aria's many sweet spots. The discovery made him smile wide before quickly going back to the spot, getting to work on giving Aria a rather large hickey. The action made Aria moan as she fisted Ezra's hair into her small hands, the noise only made Ezra want her more than he had ever wanted anyone before.

Once Ezra was finished creating the hickey he took a quick look at yhis handy work and smiled with satisfaction before attaching his lips to Aria's once more, he made sure to be gentle and not good too fast as he didn't want Aria to feel uncomfortable in any way.

Feeling rather brave Aria reached for Ezra's belt buckle and blindly began undoing it. Once that task was out of the way she then popped open the button on his jeans and with slightly shaky hands she pulled down the zipper. Ezra could sense her nervousness and spoke up.

"If you wanna stop, we can stop." He reassured her as he looked into her beyond beautiful Hazel eyes.

"No, its okay, I guess I'm just nervous, sorry." Aria replied as she began pushing his jeans down as far as she could. Once she had pushed them as far as she could Ezra spoke again before removing them completely.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He told her as he cupped her face.

When Ezra came back he slowly moved their position so Aria was now laid underneath him whilst he hovered slightly above her, careful not to put too much of his weight on her since she was small and was still full of bruises from the accident.

Getting another wave of bravery Aria began to push her sweat pants down, revealing the top of her matching underwear.

"Can i?" Ezra asked wanting to be the one to remove the clothing from her body. Aria simply nodded her head yes at him.

Ezra removed his eyes and lips from Aria as he moved down the bed so he was now eye level with her hips. He then tucked his hands in either side of her waistband, then slowly pulled the item down. As the item moved further down Ezra looked back up at Aria, keeping his eyes locked with hers until the material was half way past her knees. He then looked down briefly as he pulled the sweats pasted her dainty feet, then tossed the item on the floor without a second thought.

Ezra then looked back at Aria who had gone a shade redder at his actions. He gave her a small smile, which she returned before he came back up to join her.

"You okay?" He asked cautiously. Aria didn't answer she simply kissed him, hard. Getting slightly ahead of himself Ezra made a moved for the clasp on Aria's bra and swiftly undid it, he them moved his hands to the straps, ready to pull them down her arms and off her body completely. It all happened so fast Aria barely had chance to register what was happening. His hands just touch the thin material of the straps when he heard Aria's delicate voice speak.

"Wait, stop." She said timidly.

Without a second thought Ezra stopped all his movements and removed his hands from her body.

"Are you okay? Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you?" He reeled off worriedly.

"No, I'm okay, it's just…can we slow down a bit?" Aria asked avoiding his eyes, nervous of how he would react.

"Of course we can," Ezra told her straight away. "DO you want me to hook your bra back up?" He asked wanting her to be comfortable.

"No, I just…can we just stop for a minute?"

"Of course." Ezra said as he moved so he was no longer on top of her. He picked up the comforter from the bottom of the bead and took it with him as he sat next to her. "Here." He said softly as he placed the comforter over her, covering her almost naked breasts.

"Thanks." Aria said as she leaned into his open arms. The pair laid on her bed for a few moments in silence until Aria broke it.

"I'm sorry I freaked." Aria said as she avoided looking at him once again.

"Hey," Ezra said as he tilted her face to look at him. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm not gonna make you do something your not comfortable with."

"Do you think.. can we try again?" Aria asked him aprehensivly.

"Are you sure?" Ezra asked, he didn't want her doing this if she wasn't sure. "We can just lay her like this if you're not ready, like I said before I'm completely fine with that.

"No, I want to. My nerves just got the best of me. I'll be fine now."

"As long as your sure." Ezra said double checking this is what she wants.

"I'm sure." Aria replied without any hesitation what so ever.

"In that case then, of course we can try again, and if you get nervous again or want to stop or slow down just let me know and I'll do whatever you want."

"Okay, Ezra…"

"Yeah babe?"

"Thank you for being so understanding. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"You're more than welcome." Ezra told her as he gently planted his lips on hers, picking up where they left off only this time making it the whole nine yards, nice and slow just like it should be.

"That was.." Aria began but was unable to finish her sentence, leaving Ezra to finish it for her.

"Amazing?" He suggested.

"Better than amazing." Aria told him as she snuggled closer to his naked, sweaty body.

"I couldn't agree more with you, that was beyond perfect." Ezra told Aria as he played with the soft tresses of her hair that were sprawled out on the pillow beside him.

"Do you mean that?" Aria asked.

"What makes you say that? Of course I mean it." Ezra told her as he stopped playing with her hair and looked at her.

"Because I'm not experience as you, are you sure I was good enough?" Aria asked her self conscience getting the best of her yet again. Ezra lifted Aria's face to look at him again; he hated seeing the doubt behind those beautiful eyes of hers.

"You were perfect, the best I've ever had and ever will have. You have to stop doubting yourself because you were amazing." He told her sincerely.

"I really love you Ezra, you know that?" Aria admitted feeling brave.

"I love you too Aria." He told her before adding. "So, so much."

"You better do because you're stuck with me forever; I'm never letting you go." Aria said as she held onto him tighter than before.

"I'm okay with that." Ezra replied holding her closer too before taking a quick look at Aria's bedside alarm clock. In bright blue numbers that read 1.20am. 'Time really does dly when you're having fun.' Ezra thought to himself before smiling as he thought about what had taken place tonight. "We should probably get some sleep now, it's late." He suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Aria replied. Ezra then leaned over the side of the bed to retrieve Aria's duvet, he then placed it over the pair, making them snug and warm as they laid there in each others embrace.

"Goodnight Beautiful." Ezra said softly as he kissed Aria delicately on her forehead. He was waiting for a reply when he suddenly heard the noise of Aria's soft snores surrounding him, he then closed his eyes and allowed the calming noise to lull him to sleep too.

**_Hey guys! Hope you liked it, please review and let me know what you think I love reading your opinions on the story and what you want to see happen. _**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**The morning after the night before.**

_Hey Guys so I know this has taken me forever to load but so much crap has gone lately its unreal. That's no excuse I know, But either way, sorry. _

_Hopefully you'll love this chapter and forgive me. Sorry for any mistakes this isn't proofed, p.s please review I love reading your thought and opinions, thanks. _

At 10 am the following morning Aria and Ezra were nice and snug, wrapped up in one another's arms under Aria's warm covers. Aria had started to stir awake which cause Ezra to wake up immediately. Once his eyes were open he couldn't help but smile down at the beauty that was Aria Montgomery.

"Morning Beautiful." He softly said once he noticed her eyes begin to flutter open. Aria blinked a few time up at him as she took a second to remember where she was and who she was with. A huge smile spread across her face as she remembered the events that took place the night before, before a slight blush washed over her face too.

As Ezra noticed Aria's face becoming redder he reached his left hand out and cupped her delicate cheek.

"You have no idea how beautiful you look when you blush." He told her, which only made Aria blush even more before she pulled the covers over her head, hiding her face from him. Ezra smiled at Aria's action before changing the subject.

"So I was thinking, why don't we go out for the day?" He suggested. At the change of Aria removed her head from under the covers. "I mean, only if you're up for it." Ezra quickly said realising that maybe Aria would prefer a relaxing day inside.

"Of course I'm up for it." Aria quickly replied. "That sounds nice." She added before giving Ezra a small peck on the lips.

"How're you feeling?" Ezra asked going back to the subject of last night. "I didn't hurt you or anything like that did I?" He asked nervously. He had meant to ask Aria last nice but they had both fallen asleep before he had the chance.

"I'm fine." Aria replied quickly hoping it would put an end to the rather awkward conversation.

"Are you sure because I read…" Ezra began but was cut off by Aria.

"I'm fine Ezra I promise, I'd let you know if I wasn't." Aria said finally putting his mind at rest. Aria couldn't hep but smile at the fact that Ezra had admitted he looked up bout the female body for her, she loved the fact that he cared that much about her.

"What's got you so smiley?" He asked her, unable to take his ocean blue eyes off of her hazel ones.

"Nothing. I'm just really touched you did research about women for me." Aria replied.

"You're more than welcome." Ezra replied as he let out a small laugh before leaning in for a rather heated kiss.

"I should probably get in the shower now." Aria told Ezra once their lips were parted for a split second.

"Yeah…you…probably…should." Ezra replied in between kisses.

"Wanna join me?" Aria asked mischievously once their lips parted again. At her words Ezra stopped kissing her, stunned by her words.

"Seriously?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, why not?" Aria said, loving the fact that Ezra's jaw was almost to the floor.

"You have no idea how much I love you." Ezra said before crushing his lips back to hers.

"I've got a pretty good idea, now come on." Aria replied as she got out from under the covers and headed for her en-suite, quickly followed by Ezra.

**_Over an Hour later._**

"So what were you thinking of doing today?" Aria asked as she slipped on a loose fitting floral dress.

"Well I heard there was an all day carnival at the park today, we could go there, but if you wanna stay in the shower all day that's fine by me." Ezra replied as he excited the bathroom, towel in hand as he attempted to dry his wet hair.

"As much as I enjoyed…that, the carnival sounds fun, let's do that." Aria replied causing Ezra to playfully pout at her. "Come on, it'll be fun. You can even win me a stuffed bear." Aria said as she began making her bed with the help of Ezra, she made a mental note to change the sheets later. At her comment Ezra let out a small laugh.

"What? What's so funny?" Aria asked not understanding what part of what she said had caused him to start laughing.

"You might have to win your own bear; I'm not good with anything athletic." He told her as he finished getting ready by putting his shirt on.

"Neither am I." Aria replied making Ezra feel slightly better about himself. "We can suck at sport together." Aria told him as she sat down on her bed, Ezra joined her so he could put his socks on easier.

"Do you mind if we make a quickly stop by my apartment before we go to the carnival? I could do with changing into some clean clothes.

"Yeah sure that's fine." Aria replied not wanting him to be uncomfortable.

"Maybe you'd like to actually come in this time?" Ezra asked carefully, he knew how sceptical Aria had been the fist time.

"Yeah sure, I'd love to see your apartment." Aria replied enthusiastically.

"Be warned it's not that big, maybe only a foot or two bigger than this room." Ezra warned, he didn't want her getting her hopes up.

"I highly doubt that." Aria replied not believing him.

"Wait till you see it, and then say that." Ezra replied as he got up off Aria's bed, took hold of her hand and walked down the stairs with her.

"Here we are." Ezra said as he opened the door to his small apartment, he thanked God he'd cleaned the last time he was home and that the place didn't look like a pig's sty. "Do you like it?" He asked nervously a mere second as Aria had entered the apartment.

"Do I like it? No." Aria replied toying with Ezra before admitting she loved it as she slowly rotated around taking in as much as she could in.

"Really?" Ezra asked.

"Yes. I love it." Aria told him honestly as she stopped looking around and faced him. "And it's not small, it's quaint."

"Quaint means small Ar."

"No. Quaint, means quaint, small means small. This place is not small it's quaint, cute and 100% you." Aria told him as she walked towards him, placing both of her small hands on either side of his face before she continued. "And just like you, I love it." She told him before leaning up and planting her lips on his.

"Before we have a repeat of this morning, as much as I would like that, why don't you look around whilst I get changed then we can go." Ezra suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Aria said as she patted his chest with both hands before walking over to the rather large bookcase that resided on the other side of the room.

Once Aria finally managed to tear herself away from Ezra's extremely impressive book collection she then walked over towards his desk.

"Hey, your answering machine is flashing, do you want me to leave it or play it?" Aria asked as the flashing had caught her attention.

"You can play it if you want." Ezra called from the bathroom. "It won't be anything interesting, it never is."

Aria's dainty index finger reached out and pushed the small play button on the machine, instantly they heard the machine's voice speak followed by the left message.

**(P.s his Mom is nice in this story and so are his Dad and Wes.) **

"Hey Ezra its Mom, just in case you've forgot Wes comes home from college the day after tomorrow and you promised you'd come for dinner. I know you've been crazy busy lately but me and your father miss you and I'm sure Wes does too. Oh, and before I forget you can bring Aria with you if you want, we'd love to meet her, she sounds perfect for you, let me know if you'll be gracing us with your presence or not when you get this please, love you, talk soon."

"I'd class that as an interesting phone call." Aria said once the message had finished playing. "You told your Mom about us?" Aria asked, she found it utterly adorable he'd talked to his mother about their relationship.

"She's very nosey, she likes to know things." Ezra explained as he walked over towards Aria.

"Well she sounds sweet."

"She is, I think you'd really love her." Ezra replied as he wrapped his arms around Aria's petite frame.

"Are you gonna go to the dinner she was on about"? Aria asked curious as to weather Ezra would invite her along or not.

"That depends."

"On what?" Aria asked sceptically.

"On weather you'll come with me or not."

"You want me to come too?" Aria asked.

"Yes, and as you heard so do my parents and brother, so will you?"

"I'd love to." Aria replied causing the pair to smile at one another before Ezra spoke.

"We should probably get going to the carnival now, it's almost noon, and I'm starving, aren't you?"

"I'm famished. I could murder a burger." Aria replied as they left Ezra's quaint apartment.

"How about I just buy you one?" Ezra suggested. "Murdering a burger sounds messy." He joked.

"You don't have to buy me food Ezra." Aria told him as they finished walking down the stairs and out of the complex.

"Nonsense, I want to." Ezra told her as he held the passenger door open for her.

"See you don't completely suck at sport." Aria said as she awkwardly carried the large stuffed animal that was half the size of her.

"Yeah, I don't think it counts if you pay the guy to give you the biggest bear there is." Ezra replied as they walked hand in hand through the busy crowds.

"Nonsense. You tried, that's what counts." Aria told him, stopping so she could give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"As long as you're happy, then I'm happy." Ezra told Aria truthfully as they headed towards the exit.

"I'm more than happy." Aria told him as she readjusted the bear so she wouldn't drop the damn thing.

"In that case then, mission accomplished. Now how about we drop that huge thing they call a bear off at my car and go and get some ice cream?" Ezra suggested.

"That's the best thing I've heard you say all day." Aria replied as a huge giddy smile appeared on her face. No one loved ice cream more than Aria did, especially if it was cookie dough or coffee flavoured.

Ezra couldn't help but smile in amazement at how happy Aria looked at the prospect of getting ice cream. She looked like a small child who was about to meet Santa for the first time. Clearly Ezra underestimated her love for ice cream ads once they arrived at the old fashioned shopee she was practically drooling as she looked at all the different flavours the small store had to offer.

As he watched Aria change her mind for the seventh time, Ezra knew right then and there that Aria Montgomery was it for him, there wasn't a chance that he could love someone half as much as he loved her right now.

_There you have it chapter 10 hope you enjoyed now review, please _


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